News from the hive!

[Headfry]

Seasprout, Hi and thanks for doing the link thingy.
Mid day opening of the hive- Main reasons for doing it at this time of the day are two fold.
A good proportion of your bees will be out foraging, so less bees at home! makes life much more easy when checking through the frames. Also, the weather is often warm at this time of day.
It's very easy to chill the brood (eggs and larva). I once went into to the bees without any bee gear on, the first thing I noticed was how warm to hive was! I was amazed at the heat coming from the hive.... wearing gloves most of the time I had never noticed this before.
The only time I have ever 'bottled it' when doing the bees was one afternoon, gosh they were angry, came at me like little spitfires- yeep I bottled out, shut the hive up quick smart, had to go for a long walk to get the bees of my clothing. Within the hour- a HUGE thunder storm arrived. The bees knew!
So a good weather eye helps. Don't go in there if thunder is on the way!
I work full time so have to make many evening hive visits, the bees are fine, and in the summer they are most often still out working. Come to think of it, all our evening classes were just that- evening sessions!
so no worries there.
I Lifted the lid on my little box of tricks when I got home from work yesterday, the syrup (thick sugar and water solution) I had put on Saturday had almost all gone! so made Mr HF's breakfast and the 'girls' supper this morning.
I will add the syrup this evening. Rape almost in flower now which means I should be able to stop feeding and start to think HONEY :-)
Sorry if I waffle on,
Scarey55, don't give up theres plenty of time. sometimes at country shows they have a Viewing hive. you can see the bees working, most are so fascinated by this- maybe a good starting point for OH ;-)

[HeyWayne]

If you want to make an hour or so's drive from you HF, the rape is blooming here. Stick the hive in the back of the car, drive over, let the bees have a nice day out, then take them home again ready for bed time.

Cool eh?

[Headfry]

HeyWayne thanks, If it were Broad beans I might take you up on it!

[Janna]

Hi Headfry, thanks for the tip, have ordered the Ted Hooper book, and he's excitedly trawling the net for suppliers of the national hive, honey here we come!

[Headfry]

Great news Janna, email Thornes and get a catalogue sent through....great for reference!
Where are you based?

[Janna]

Hi again Headfry, we're near Frome in Somerset. I've got a price list from a company called fragile planet, they are selling a 5 frame nucleus, with a carnolian queen, bees, hatching brood and eggs for £125, do you reckon this is a good bet?
They sell hives from reclaimed timber for £99, do you know if hives come in standardised sizes or if I were to get one of these I'd be limited to products from them, it doesn't say national on it?
Thanks for being there!!!

[peanut]

I'd love to keep Bees!

[Headfry]

£125 for bees.... that sounds a lot, but you get what you pay for, calm bees and you would expect them to be disease free. With 5 frames it's a good start!
A swarm is free, but is 'unknown' but not a ££££'s loss if something goes wrong! just a thought!

Yes hives do come in standard sizes, though some people like to tweak them a bit. You would need to choose the type of hive you want. ie, National, WBC, commercial etc.
Most beginers go for the National or maybe the WBC.
Take the National hive, It should not matter who you buy it from, it should always have the same dimensions. I would ask them what type of hive it was....You will need to know this. Does the hive come with frames, foundation, roof, crown board? more question that I would ask. A lot of us are using open mesh floors....to try and help with reducing varroa mites. Has it this type of floor.
When you extract the honey :-) some spinners/extractors work better with standard sized frames (where the honey is stored - honey comb) so that would be another reason to choose a standard sized hive. Some types of hives run on 'top' bee space and some on 'bottom' bee space. Again you would want to know about this too.
It sounds complicated but will come clear with time- don't panic.
I will have a look to see if 'Fragile Planet has a web site. I wont be able to report back till monday though - sorry.
Buy the way £99 is good if it's a whole hive! Mine are cedar so they will last, but I paid the higher price for that! I looked at it as a long term investment that the bees will pay for themselves ....I will sell some honey to get money back.

Peanut.....bees are fab! I spend hours watching mine. Went in the hive sunday.
Football match on in village. People watching match. Hive backs onto village playing field,behind hege. I am busy talking to my girlies, trying to find queenie-- asking them to "take me to your leader" said in gruff voice effect...some old boy watching the match shouted across..."you alright love"! I had to laugh.

[Janna]

Thanks Headfry, we really appreciate the advice.
Your football match experience sounds familiar, I talk to my chickens all the time and was recently told by the neighbours that they stand on the other side of the fence to giggle at me!!

[Headfry]

Hi Janna, I have had a look at the Fragile Earth web site. It all seems ok.
Make sure that you look carefully at what you get for your money, you will need a queen excluder, crown board, mesh floor, even a feeder.
The hives are stated as being National hives and should be just that. You should be able to use other manufactures National parts if you wished. They should be the standard national sizes.
I would also like to know how long a hive would last and if you have to treat it each year? Don't forget it will stay out in all sorts of weather for many years, and is difficult to re- treat when full of bees. You seem to get one super with your hive, you might need to buy more if your girls are busy! I have two with my hive, but may need a third!
Have you seen the build quality of these hives? you really, really do want them to fit together nicely.
It depends on how much you want to spend....that said, you don't need expensive kit to be a good beekeeper or to enjoy what you do!

[Janna]

Thanks Headfry, all this knowledge is massively appreciated. Is there somewhere you would reccomend to get long lasting hives from?

[Headfry]

Hi Janna
I bought mine from Thornes. Not the cheapest about but I expect it to last all of my beekeeping days. It's cedar and does not need treating!
They sell them ready built, more £££'s that way :-(
In the 'flat' you will need to build it,
mail order or collect.
Mr HF bought mine for my B'day. 'flat' and we went to collect it, which was a treat as I could have a good look around at all the other bee bits on offer. Built it on a throughly wet and cold day, in the kitchen, stereo on and lots of tea....a happy day!
One small tip if I may....
In my excitement we built the whole hive, brood body, 2 supers and all the frames!
My bees came as a late and very small swarm. I only used the brood body + frames and 1 super for the feeder, so did not use any of the super frames at all.
I then had to store the loose frames, and one complete super. It would have been better not to have made up these un-used parts and to have stored them 'flat'
Hind sight ehh!
There are some very good other makes, try google and have a look around.
Thornes came recommended to me, they have a good catalogue, have provided me with good service and have a web site. I guess I have just stuck to them really, though maybe I should look around.
keep me posted Janna
Sue
x

[Janna]

Hi Sue, wow it all feels a bit more doable now, thanks! One last question beofre I wear out your goodwill, and I feel a bit daft asking, but where do you actually get the Bees? I saw you could get them mail order, but I seem to remember as a child in Cornwall several times local bee keepers coming to our area to colect swarms, it all seems rather mysterious! ANd if you were to buy them mail order, won't they just be really angry and fly away?
He's well stuck into the Hoopers Bee book now so probably is learning this all himself, but you know how it is, there's just something so reassuring about hearing it all from a real person! Well I'm sure Mr Hooper is a real person but you know what I mean!
Thanks,
Janna

[Headfry]

Hi Janna, no worries I wont wear out when it come to all things bee
Have a look in your phone book for your local council. They usually have a pest controller who deals with wasps and swarms of bees. Give him/her a call and put your name down for a swarm of bees! If you explain that they will be your first, he might 'catch' them for you.
My swarm controller is a member of the Oxford Beekeepers Ass. We asked him to put me on his list of people wanting bees, waited about a month and along came my girlies, he had kindly caught them for me, they were in a 'skep' the old fashioned basket type of hive. We drove over to his house in the evening, to say I was excited would be a huge understatement, and drove back with a skep of mischief in the boot of the car. After putting them in the hive (hiving) them I took the skep back, with some bars of chocolate in it thanking him for his help, No charge for the bees!
Whether you buy them or collect a swarm, as long as you have the queen in the hive the rest will follow. Simply speaking- She gives off a smell, this keeps the colony together.
Rather than be angry they will thank you for a lovely home!
Sometimes, they can, in the early days- up and leave, someone told me that he kept putting his swarm in the hive only to come back later and find they all hanging out under the hive, it worked out in the end though.
I must admit that the day after 'hiving' mine I was up at the crack of dawn checking to see if they were still in the box!......they were and still are
I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU BOTH, I want to hear all about your new hobby! please

[Headfry]

The Honey Pot - National Hive Animation

Janna I really hope the above link works for you!

It's a fab look at the inside of a hive

Just click on the lower part of hive, then the individual parts for more detail as to what they are!

Quick ps, The Honey Pot is a nice little site